City Dock Park Clears Last Hurdle Before Annapolis Flood Protection
City Dock Park cleared its last hurdle before construction, a report said. Annapolis expects the raised park to prevent downtown flooding. City Dock Park in Annapolis, Maryland, has been approved by the Historic Preservation Commission for Phase 1 of a three-part plan to protect downtown from flooding. The park will feature a fountain, a stage, and a waterfront promenade around Ego Alley, with a raised earthen berm, floodgates and a pumping system. However, construction is dependent on a $32 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that hasn't been approved yet. The city estimates it will still be short on funding even with the FEMA grant, with construction set to start in November. The project is scheduled to open in 2025 and is not scheduled to interrupt boat shows at City Dock.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Jacob Baumgart in Weather
If completed, the park will feature a fountain, a stage and a waterfront promenade around Ego Alley. The park will also include a raised earthen berm, floodgates and a pumping system. The Capital said that construction is contingent on a $32 million grant that hasn't yet been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The city said it would still be "a little short" on funding even with the FEMA grant, The Capital reported, though construction is slated to start this November. Utility work was supposed to begin this spring, but The Capital said that was "resequenced" to this October.
"There is nothing to preserve without resiliency," Historic Preservation Commission Vice Chair Kevin Smith said at a March 12 hearing, according to The Capital.
The effort is slated to protect 70% of the downtown shoreline from 8 feet of flooding. The city hopes to cover the remaining coast in future projects that are still years away.
Designers said this would defend the historic district from sea level rise and worsening storm surges until 2060. The city would then need to reassess its protective measures. The United Nations projects Annapolis sea levels to rise at least a foot by the 2050s and at least 2 feet by 2100. The park is scheduled to open in 2025. The finishing floodproofing touches would continue until 2026. The work is not scheduled to interrupt the spring or fall boat shows at City Dock.
This is Phase 1 of a three-part plan to protect downtown. Phase 1 construction would start where Dock Street meets the water and wrap along Ego Alley. This portion would end at the current Donner parking lot, which would also be converted into a park.
Phase 2 plans would protect 110 Compromise Street, which houses The Choptank restaurant, to the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel. Phase 3 would defend the hotel to the Spa Creek bridge. The final phases would connect City Dock Park to the future Naval Academy seawall, construct a maritime welcome center and raise the historic Burtis House by several feet.
Patch contacted the city spokesperson for more information on the park and its funding, but we didn't hear back before this story was published. We will update this article if we get a response. To learn more about the Historic Preservation Commission's approval, read The Capital's full story. Only subscribers of The Capital can access the article, however.